Mecklenburg County commissioners discussed plans Tuesday night for a new program aimed at helping small businesses that could be displaced by future transit construction.
County staff proposed offering lines of credit, expanding access to contracting opportunities and providing other assistance to businesses affected by new transit lines. The discussion comes after voters approved a new one-cent sales tax that takes effect this year to fund billions of dollars in transit expansion across the county.
Some commissioners questioned whether the county should bear the cost of preventing business displacement, especially as responsibility for the transit system shifts to a new regional transit authority.
“I think y’all have designed a great program, but why is it the county’s to do?” Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell said during the meeting.
County staff proposed spending about $1.4 million in the next fiscal year to launch the program, with funding rising to more than $3.2 million within two years.